Saskatoon police silent on suspension of senior sergeant, outside investigation

Saskatoon police have confirmed a senior sergeant is suspended and under investigation.

The allegation is serious enough that the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) is also involved.

"A Sgt. was served a notice of suspension on Feb. 7, 2025, following a preliminary investigation by the SPS Professional Standards Division," police said in an email to CBC News on Wednesday.

"In accordance with policy, the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) has accepted carriage of certain aspects of the investigation."

In an email to CBC, a provincial Ministry of Justice spokesperson said SIRT's mandate is "to independently investigate incidents where an individual has died or suffered serious injury arising from the actions of an on and off-duty police officers, or while in custody of police, as well as allegations of sexual assault or interpersonal violence involving police."

Saskatoon police would not say what the sergeant allegedly did to trigger SIRT's involvement.

Police would also not say why it never told the public about the investigation, suspension and involvement of SIRT.

SIRT usually announces when it becomes involved in an investigation. However, it did not in this case "to maintain the integrity of either SIRT's own investigation or any related ongoing police investigations," the email said.

There are now three separate investigations underway involving Saskatoon police officers, dating back to November.

• 6 Saskatoon police officers suspended after 2 separate incidents

That's when SIRT began investigating an incident that led to the suspension of five Saskatoon police officers. A sixth officer is also off work because of an unrelated incident.

Police only acknowledged the suspensions and investigations when questioned by media.